Temple of Ishtar and Inanna
Published by Sherpa Voyager November 30th, 2007
Ianna is the Sumerian name for Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, sexual love, and … erm, war. Some of us may feel these three to be intricately intertwined; others of us – well, we’ll just leave it at that!
Ishtar had mixed reviews, even in her own time; she was said to be fickle, capricious, and even, sometimes, cruel. In one story, the goddess descends to the Underworld, where she demands that the gatekeeper open the doors:
If thou openest not the gate to let me enter,
I will break the door, I will wrench the lock,
I will smash the door-posts, I will force the doors.
I will bring up the dead to eat the living.
And the dead will outnumber the living.
Take a lesson from that, ladies: assertiveness pays off!
Here, the visitor approaches the goddess via education. A notecard about the Sumerian language, as well as a welcoming note from Carmen Alvarado, greet the newly arrived potential devotee.
Another card tells us a little about everyday life in Babylon, and the surrounding pictures make it easy to imagine.
A journey upon the path of the soul to meet passionate deities, divine kings, priestesses-queens, and all that was sung before the muses and angels …
The museum is filled with more pictures … as well as a handy Sumerian-English dictionary (where Sherpa learned, helpfully, that the Sumerian word for bird was mushan and full moon is Nanna).
But the best part of any visit has to be the opportunity to visit with the goddess herself in her own temple:
When you’re ready to learn about another culture, another time, another place, another religion … then come and visit the Temple of Ishtar and Inanna.
(This Second Life review was brought to you by SecondSeeker.com)








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